Such a Fooled Heart
by prosopopeya
Summary: Jareth has revenge plans for Sarah, but he has to wait to take her until she's an adult. But his plans fall through when he finally has her, and feelings that neither one are anxious to address come forth. Caution: Scene involving nighttime antics.
1. Here to Stay

A/N: I own nothing here; it's all from the Labyrinth. This is my first draft, so reviews are highly appreciated. Line breaks signify a scene change and 's mean a change in perspective simply because I hate those giant white gaps.

**Such a Fooled Heart**

Her dark black hair fell over her shoulder as she turned in her sleep, the gentle moonlight playing over her pale skin and illuminating her. The owl sat unblinking outside her window, its eyes burning intensely in, staring at the young girl. It knew exactly what she was dreaming; it had, after all, placed those dreams there itself. As the girl turned again and mumbled something in her sleep, the owl knew what she said even though he couldn't hear through the cool, clear glass.

"Jareth," she mumbled, softly at first, then louder. Her body writhed on the bed now as the dream quickly grew more intense. As she was very clearly mimicking the throes of sex, the owl still sat unblinkingly by her window. It almost seemed as if it was laughing at her.

A light shone beneath her door and then the door opened, throwing in beams of hard yellow light on her sleeping face. The owl's yellow eyes followed the very sleepy man as he stumbled into the room, slowing growing more awake as he first became afraid of someone raping his young daughter, and then angry that she was having such dreams. The man sat and shook his daughter's shoulders. The girl screamed and sat up, staring wildly around her room, her eyes unfocused and scared. The owl turned and flew away, and it again seemed to be laughing though it emitted no noise except for the gentle swishing of its wings in the air.

* * *

Sarah sat down gloomily in her seat at the breakfast table. She could hardly dare to bring her eyes up to meet her father's. This was the third night in a row that he had caught her having one of those…dreams. The thought made her blush every time it graced her mind, and not because she was ashamed—well, mostly not. No, they made her so _angry_. The thought of the Goblin King invading her dreams and her most private places was something she most certainly did not want…usually.

Angrily she picked up her spoon and took a forceful bite of her cereal. The quiet crunching was all that filled the room, except for the occasional rustle of her father's paper. Her stepmother had taken Toby out to some preschool…thing. Sarah was enjoying her summer before college began in the fall, so she didn't have a job to go to, despite her parents' urgings. No, she instead auditioned for the local theater's summer production and was waiting to hear word from them about her part.

She picked at her cereal and finally gave up, her stomach turning as the scent of milk drifted up to her nose. Standing up, she went over to the sink and poured it out, watching as the milk dribbled into the garbage disposal. So creamy pale, so light…

"Aren't you hungry?"

Her father's accusing voice snapped at her senses and she jumped, dropping the bowl into the sink. She looked over her shoulder at him and found merely a hateful glance, as if she actually had been having sex last night and not just having a dream.

"Not really," she replied, her voice small in the kitchen. She pushed the pieces of cereal down the drain, hoping her father would resume reading his paper and she could resume…whatever it was she was going to do that day. After a few moments of awkward silence, Sarah decided she had had enough and turned to leave the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"Oh, Daddy, I don't know," Sarah shortly cut back, exasperated by the silence and the feelings these…dreams were leaving her with. Uncomfortable feelings about a man who had nearly scared her to death—but now he was having quite a different reaction on her, and she didn't really know what to do about it.

"Don't use that tone with me," her father snapped without really noticing that his daughter just called him "daddy" for the first time in three years. He was getting worried about this Jared person she kept mumbling about in her sleep. Sometimes he wished she'd go back to being that girl all tied up in dolls and books so he wouldn't have to worry about—he shuddered at the thought—_boys_ dating his daughter.

Before he could get another word out, he heard the door bang shut. Merlin came whimpering in from the hall and placed his furry head on the worried man's leg.

"I'm with you, Merlin," he muttered down into the shaggy face. "She's changing, isn't she, boy?" Setting his paper down, he affectionately ruffled the familiar dog's hair. "Well, at least you've got another kid to fall back on. I only had one daughter though," he said sadly and looked back toward the door.

* * *

Jareth too was sitting sadly in a chair, but he had no affectionate shaggy head to rest on his knee to keep him company. Instead he fitfully tapped his riding crop against his boot and vaguely wondered why he even had a riding crop—did he even have a horse?—and stared into the crystal in his other hand. Sarah's face filled the rounded surface, and he felt a smirk tug at the edges of his mouth.

Three years he had waited, and three years had come. He had delivered her from childhood; now he would deliver her to womanhood.

It was all just a part of the job, he kept telling himself. There was really nothing behind it, no feelings. She had solved his Labyrinth; now she would receive the follow-up treatment that came with it. It took him a few days—well, it felt like days; could it have been months?—to figure out just exactly what that was. It wasn't very often someone solved the Labyrinth. But he remembered. He had delivered her from childhood; now he would deliver her from adulthood and return her sense of wonder.

No law really bound him to this little clause, but as he was a Goblin King, he had selective memory, and he didn't let that little meddlesome detail get in his way.

_This is strictly business,_ he promised himself as he watched her from the Underground. _Nothing to do at all with any feelings._

He tossed the crystal into the air where it disappeared and rose from his seat, pacing a few feet in front of his throne. The noise of the goblins was becoming deafening and if he had to trip over a chicken one more time…

A loud smashing noise echoed throughout the chamber as a goblin crashed into a pot or two; laughter ensued, which didn't really help the headache Jareth was developing, though the kick had helped Jareth immensely. Sighing he stalked out of the room, his boots clicking on the stone floor, and in the wake of their path, silence flowered.

He stalked into his private study, which was thankfully empty. Over to his window, he stared down at the other part of his kingdom, the part few ever really got to see. A forest spread out from the edge of the Labyrinth, and only the part fringing the high walls of his little game were filled with dangers; the rest were fairly empty, save for an occasional lake. That was the part of his kingdom he preferred to the stone twists and turns of the maze he had spent so much energy on.

Here he could think clearly; here no one could disturb his thoughts.

_No one except—_

He cut off his thoughts. He could never escape. For three years, he had not been able to escape her. Even before she came to him for her Trial, her passage, when he had been waiting by her window, he had put off his obsession with her simply with the excuse that he was getting to know his competition. After that, it was his rage that she had won. Now he had no other emotion left except the one he would not name, the one he would never, ever say.

_It's time to end this spell she's cast for good,_ he thought firmly, his eyes gazing out over the landscape of his home. _Yes, it's time._ And then, Jareth was gone.

* * *

Sarah walked back up the sidewalk to her house. The sky was beginning to darken, and the summer sun was just starting to turn from yellow to gold, resembling half of an egg yolk. Her feet made very little noise as she aimlessly strolled down the sidewalk. She wasn't really in a hurry to get home. She had spent the afternoon with her friends—_the human ones_, she mused to herself—but now they were all getting ready to go to some community dance thing that Sarah hadn't gotten asked to. She was getting tired of the pitying stares so she had decided to head home, and now with the setting sun in her eyes, she made her way there.

There was no real desire in her to go home. During the summer, her appetite usually ebbed and she often skipped meals, though her stomach was beginning to growl a bit. As she walked, she knew why she didn't want to go home. There were a dozen reasons to want to stay away, and most of them started with "K" and ended with "aren." She hated her stepmother more than anything—until lately. Now he hated the tension with her father and she dreaded crawling into bed at night.

She trudged up the steps and shut the door behind her. Her eyes traveled up the staircase to her door, and, sighing, she started making her way up it to change into her pajamas.

Well, she started to, at least.

"Sarah Williams, where have you been all day?"

The voice was enough to make her throw up.

"With Sandy and Jan," Sarah replied as she turned around on the stairs to stare down into the face of reasons four through 100 of why she didn't like being at home. (Number one was, of course, the dreams; two was the tension with her father. Three was the fact that the septic tank often overflowed, but that's a different story.)

"Do you expect your father and me to believe that?" Karen snapped back, her eyes glaring up at Sarah. From the kitchen came the sheepish face of her father, an apologetic but firm look in his eyes.

_So she had forced it all from him,_ Sarah deduced. _And now I'll "get it." Oh boy._

"Uh, yeah, because it's the truth. Call up Sandy and Jan. They'll tell you."

"Of course they would cover for you. Don't play me for a fool."

"So call their mothers! I came in with Jan to pick up Sandy and then we spent the rest of the day at Jan's house. Both of their mothers can vouch for me." Sarah was rather fond of rubbing in that word, "mother," into Karen as much as possible, since she was only Sarah's stepmother, and an evil one at that. Sarah was often very grateful that Karen had no daughters, or else Sarah would be out of luck.

Karen stared up at Sarah, anger floating about her now like a visible veil. "You have to stop speaking to me like that, young lady. How many times have I told you—"

"Mommy? Sawah?" The small, young voice at the top of the stairs made both women look toward it. Toby's small pajama-clad form stood in the light of the hallway, Lancelot dangling from his hand. Sarah hadn't realized that it was already past 8:00 and Toby's bedtime. She shot a glance over her shoulder at Karen before walking up the steps to Toby. She took his small hand and guided him away, back to his room.

Sure, she still hated him a lot of the time, but every time she wanted to yell at him, Jareth's cruel smirk and his self-satisfied laugh echoed in her eyes and ears and she restrained her anger. She scooped up his small form and put him into his bed, pulling the covers up to his chin and kissing his forehead.

"Why do you yell at Mommy?" he asked, one small fist rubbing his eyes.

"I don't know," Sarah replied tiredly as she kissed his forehead. "Go to sleep, little one. Good night."

"Night-night," the little voice said softly into the darkness. Sarah switched out his light and hurried into her room, shutting the door behind her to escape any more of her stepmother's wrath. The posters that had littered her walls only those three years ago were now gone, replaced with books and pictures of her friends; a life, a real life, the kind she had lacked.

The trinkets of her friends are gone, and even their visits have wound down through the years. She had slowly been growing older, and though she missed her friends, most of her was content as she was. Most, anyway. Sitting before her vanity, she thought back to that night so long ago, and she opened up the drawer in her desk. There the worn Labyrinth book stared back up at her. She always kept that near, no matter what. As she looked at it, she felt the part of her that quieted down through the years murmur and then speak and then yell in desperation to be noticed, not to be ignored.

"Sarah, come down here!"

She jumped so high she nearly fell out of her chair. As it was, she only banged her knee roughly against the desk and knocked over the pencil cup on her desk. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to bed!" she called back.

The thought actually scared her. She didn't want to think about Jareth like that anymore. It was weird. "How can I think about him like that?" she asked herself aloud. "It's creepy, and it's gross, and I'm not going to anymore," she told herself in the mirror, hoping it would do something to stop the dreams, but knowing it wouldn't work.

"Come now, Sarah, I'm not all that bad, am I?"

The silky, mocking voice came from her window, and it crept up her skin until she felt bound by it, unable to breathe. She couldn't bear to turn and look at him, and she furiously hoped that it was just another dream, that she really had gone to bed and now she was sleeping on her bed.

Now muffled footsteps, like boots on plush carpet, came across her room until he was there, his presence suffocating her with his magnetism, leaning on the edge of her vanity. Her eyes immediately flicked to his feet, not wanting to look up into that face, afraid of what she—and he—would see. His feet were in his black boots, not a big surprise to Sarah, and she found her eyes drifting up to the top of them, where the gray tights she remembered so clearly began.

"Not even a hello? This isn't quite the welcome I expected, Sarah." His voice, so alluring and repulsive, pulled at her in two different directions until she thought she _would_ throw up. _Maybe it would scare him off,_ she mused.

"What did you expect?" she bit. "You waltz into my room uninvited after you put me through the hardest thing I've ever faced in my life. Did you want me to throw my arms around you in glee?"

"Oh Sarah, can't you put the past behind you?" was all he said as he slid off the edge of the dresser. She heard him move around behind her and then he appeared in the mirror, sinking to his knees behind her chair. She had nowhere to look now except at the face of the Goblin King, his blonde hair all around his face and shoulders, white shirt with wide sleeves coming around, capped with black gloved-hands. She winced as the hands found her hair and gently ran through it. His face was right next to hers in the mirror; she could feel his breath, the tickle of his hair against her ear, the smell of…of…sex, she realized with an unpleasant surprise, not that she really knew what sex smelled like. Not until her dreams.

One blue eye and one green eye stared at her shocked and—she hated to admit it—helpless reflection. A smile played at the corner of his lips, a mirthful yet dangerous smile.

"My Sarah, how you have grown."

In a minute he was gone, and she felt as if that, instead of speaking merely about her reflection, he had been talking about her body, and it made her blush furiously. She thought that his sudden departure from her back had meant that he had left, but as she turned around, she saw him standing before her bookshelf, glancing around at her room. Quickly she tried to hide her blush, covering it with anger.

"Weren't there a lot more little toys around here, Sarah? One like that Hogtoe—"

"Hoggle."

"—and one rather like that pestering fox?" He turned and looked toward her vanity again, pointing with a gloved hand, casually held into a point. "And if my memory serves me correctly, there was a glass figure of a rather handsome fey right there."

"I've grown up," Sarah put in, staring hard at him, her eyes narrowed with what she hoped was anger. "I put them away."

Jareth smirked and turned back to her, a hand reaching out to her face. She tried to duck it but found that under his gaze, she couldn't move. She knew he had no power of her, so was she letting him—but she had to stop thinking like that. No, his gaze held her, and when his hand caressed the bend of her cheek, and the smooth leather slid over it, he wouldn't let her move away.

"Have you, Sarah? Have you grown up?" His words were almost sad, apologetic, but then it was gone and she was staring into hard eyes again.

"What have you come here for?" Sarah demanded, a little less forcefully than she had intended.

"To take back the child that I have stolen," he said quietly.

Before Sarah had time to contemplate the meaning of those words or see the tender look in those lordly eyes, her room was gone and so was she.

* * *

Jareth stood in his throne room again, the sunken pit in the floor filled with goblins babbling incoherently and drinking. He sighed and rubbed his fingers across his forehead. He thought that maybe speaking with Sarah would help him to get over this…this…whatever it was that was affecting him. But ever since he had taken her to the palace, he couldn't get her out of his mind. Not that she was ever long out of his mind even when she wasn't unconscious and lying on a bed in his very home. A crystal appeared in his hand and he looked into it, seeing her sleeping face in a bedroom in one of the wings of the palace.

"Damn you!" he called into the crystal, and to make up for it, lobbed a goblin across the room with his foot. The laughter that broke out didn't help his headache much, and he threw the crystal too.

"Sire," came a fairly competent voice behind him. His head housekeeper was behind him, bowing low, a harried and scared expression on her—its? He was never sure—face.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Sire, she's awake."

Jareth quickly produced another crystal, feelings swirling in him that confused him. Anxiety, anticipation, and fear swirled around inside him, and he whisked himself away to her room. The goblin had lied. She was not quite awake yet, but she was stirring in her sleep. She mumbled a name and he grinned devilishly with glee. He had not given her any dreams in this sleep, but she mumbled his name all the same.

He strode over to her, staring down at her sleeping form, so peaceful, so delicate…her blue eyes opened, and he quickly wiped whatever emotion that was on his face, replacing it with scorn.

"Ah, Sarah, you're awake."

Sarah sat up with a start, staring into Jareth's face disbelievingly. It took her a while to remember where she was and what had happened, but when she did, she remembered her dream and hoped he hadn't been in the room to hear it. Quickly she swung her legs out of bed and stood up, facing him with steady, darkly sapphire eyes staring into his face.

_His delicate, handsome…Stop it!_

"What are you doing! I didn't make any wishes; I don't want to be here. Take me back home."

"Don't you see, Sarah? You've grown up now. I no longer need permission to take you anywhere."

Her eyes widened and she stared at him in horror, realization smacking her flat in the face. This was revenge on her. She had beaten him and now he would beat her. Her eyes lit to the door and then her feet followed, but his ringing laughter sucked out any feeble hope she had mustered. The door was locked tight, locking her in here with her captor.

"Please, Jareth, please, take me home." She stepped forward pleadingly, her eyes begging with him. "I'm sorry, just let me go home."

Her turned his back to her and walked to the window, leaning on the sill and staring out, almost dreamily. "For now, you'll have to make my labyrinth your home." He turned toward her and approached her, less haughtily than he had appeared when she woke. "Is it really all that bad? You had friends here, remember, truer friends than you may ever find there. And there are places in my labyrinth that aren't bad. I threw my worst at you. Now you can enjoy the best."

Sarah could hardly believe her ears at this speech by the Goblin King. The light from the room—which she hadn't been able to discover the source of—shone through his blonde mane, and she could almost see an eagerness in the fine sculpted lines of his perfect face. And then, just as quickly as it was there, it was gone, and he was walking to the door.

"Either way, Sarah, you're here." The door creaked with age and so Sarah couldn't hear the last part of what Jareth said. "Here to stay."


	2. Strangers Till Now

The sunlight shone down into the forest, creating patches of greenish sunlight that danced on the forest floor when the wind blew. Sarah was enjoying the refreshing breeze of the day with her friends, who were very happy to see her again, if not more than a little worried that Jareth was keeping her at the castle. 

"Verily, milady, there are ill intentions in his heart," Sir Didymus said over his sandwich. Ambrosius was off chasing squirrels, and Didymus was momentarily distracted with chasing him down and scolding him for not being valiant enough.

"Jareth is up to no good," Hoggle said, a hint of worry creeping into his voice. "Sarah, be careful. He ain't any good, no matter what he does."

"Don't worry, Hoggle. I beat him once; I should be able to do it again, right?" Sarah said almost cheerily as she took another bite of her sandwich.

It had been a week since she first arrived there, and she was beginning to forget about missing her home. Really there wasn't anything to miss except her father and Toby. She had plenty of fun acting out plays with Hoggle and her friends, much more fun than actually rehearsing them, and at least here there was no one to really make her feel like she didn't fit in. In fact, Sarah fit in better here than she did at home. She was even beginning to love the Labyrinth, every part of it too—well, not the Bog of Eternal Stench, but the maze was even enjoyable when there wasn't a time limit to it.

Jareth, however, she wasn't entirely sure about. The first few days she hadn't really seen him that much, but she couldn't avoid him forever; he saw to that. She had been eating lunch with her friends, but he was letting her out of the castle less and less. This, of course, ignited their tempers numerous times. Sarah had counted on his angry tirades to send her away from him, but it didn't work.

So she wasn't quite sure how she felt about the King of the Goblins, whether she thought him evil or kind, haughty or generous. For as much time as she had spent in his fairly happy company, she had seen him be extremely angry. His next action was never clear to her, but he was getting tired of being treated like a new toy that he doesn't want to get dirty.

But she turned her thoughts away from Jareth suddenly then as a cool breeze draped across her shoulders and down her body like a hug. Sighing quietly, she leaned back into the grass, staring up into the fluffy clouds in the cerulean sky, a perfect, pristine day.

"Hoggle, are days always like this here?" she asked, knowing that now she hadn't received the best view of the Labyrinth.

"Hmph, no. Clouds and rain most of the time," he replied in his disgruntled voice, angrily finishing his lunch. "He's putting on a show for you's what he's doing."

"So cheerful, Hogtoe," came a smooth voice from the neighboring trees. Into the clearing stepped the Goblin King, dressed in a khaki outfit.

"Hoggle," the dwarf muttered under his breath, but otherwise he clammed up and looked on as his master took a seat beside Sarah, leaning on his arm and bending his head toward Sarah as she quickly sat up and scooted a little away from him. Hoggle was glad to see Sarah's resistance, but he could see the question in her movements and all over her face—and he could see Jareth's face too, and it made something inside him squirm with fear.

"What do you say?" Sarah was turned toward Hoggle now and looking uncertainly at Hoggle, a question about her eyes.

"What?" he snapped, looking sharply at Sarah, keeping his eyes off Jareth.

"Dinner at the castle tomorrow tonight, Ludo and Didymus too."

"Well, I, uh, I don't know," Hoggle sputtered, kicking the ground with the point of his shoe.

"Not to worry, Hegpig. No one will be thrown into the Bog," Jareth promised with something that seemed to resemble sincerity, but Hoggle wouldn't be fooled by his tricks, not anymore.

"Oh, please, Hoggle," Sarah asked, reaching out a hand to place on top of his. Hoggle looked down at her hand on top of his dwarfish one and relented, nodding a little sadly. "If you want me to, Sarah."

Sarah practically squealed with delight and ran off to find out where Sir Didymus and Ludo had gotten off to, leaving Hoggle of course with the Goblin King himself. He hoped that he would go away, or even go after Sarah since he seemed to be in fairly good humor with her today. He chided himself quickly for wishing that on his friend.

"So, Hogwart." Hoggle groaned inside, and not just because Jareth had gotten his name wrong _again_. "Are you enjoying this time with Sarah?"

The question was innocent enough, but Hoggle was nervous around Jareth anyway, even though he hadn't really spoken much to him since Sarah's first visit to the Labyrinth. Of course, that was after Jareth had plunked him into an oubliette, as well as the others, during his rage. He was never quite sure why Jareth let them out, but he had never complained.

"Er, yes, yer majesty," he replied curtly, trying to appear busy untangling his jewels. He felt Jareth's eyes on him, and he couldn't help but steal side-glances at him. His eyes were locked onto his jewels it seemed, and then he saw where the King was looking: the bracelet Sarah had given him.

Questions came into Hoggle's mind from every direction, and he fought to keep them down. "Why did you bring her here?" After Hoggle had said it, he didn't know why or how it had escaped his guard, and he braced himself for the blow that he knew was going to come.

He waited and waited until he realized that it wasn't going to come. He looked over at the spot where Jareth was sitting and saw that he was staring out toward the distance, one elbow rest on his knee.

"She needs us," he replied simply, and Hoggle wondered for a minute why, if she needed them, they didn't show up in her world. "But she can't need us anymore in her world." The cryptic words confused Hoggle's unfortunately somewhat simple mind. His eyes took in the Goblin King again in disbelief, wondering just what had come over him.

* * *

That night Jareth stood before the mirror in his bedchambers, the moonlight streaming in from the window casting an ethereal glow about his features, his hair scattering the light about the room. He studied himself there in the mirror, dressed up for his dinner with Sarah, what he was starting to look forward to every morning.

The first day Sarah had hardly spoken to anyone, and for some reason he couldn't explain, he still let her out to see her friends. The second day, she'd skipped breakfast with him and instead went outside again, without his approval. He'd been extremely angry with her, injured a few goblins, and kept her locked up for the afternoon. When he entered her room for lunch, she'd refused to eat and he bet she would've thrown the food at him if his anger had not started to get the better of him. He left her room quickly and spent an hour pacing in his study about what to do.

The second inexplicable thing happened then. He decided to let her see her friends, despite his anger, and he instead went for a swim in the cool waters of the forest. A little later that evening, he called on Sarah for dinner, and to his surprise, she came down. Granted, she wasn't a very nice conversationalist, but he could at least feel her open up to him.

Next morning when he came to breakfast, he was even more startled to see Sarah sitting there, chewing quietly, staring absently out the window. She even looked up as he came in and there was a smile in her eyes if not on her face. He had taken his place across from her and they had a conversation—an actual conversation—and it was actually happy.

And now, tonight, dinner, and every day it seemed to be getting easier to get along peaceably with each other. Sure, they'd had a few quarrels, but he was finding it easier to manage his temper around her. His arrogance still had not left him, and he could read her face to see that her feelings toward him were changing. His were changing too, and it was starting to make him wonder.

These past few days had made him really question why he had brought her there. He seemed so ready, so prepared. It had certainly felt like he had a plan before he brought her here. But now he found that he was playing things mostly by ear, and he had no idea what he had meant when he said he would take back the child he stole in her bedroom that night.

He did know, however, that he had never really been quite as happy as he had been after he had brought her to the Labyrinth. Every effort had been put forth after that third day, after he had seen both the hot fires of her temper and the cool embers of her friendship, to make sure that she stayed there with him—on something that feels like her own free will, of course, or else she would make life miserable for a while. The methods were different each day. Once he had visited her in the morning and under the guise of helping her make her bed, he had started a pillow fight with her that covered the room with feathers. It sickened him a little that he had done it, but the laughter in her eyes had paid for it. That, and the sight of her running about the room in her white nightgown, feathers lazily slipping into her hair.

They'd had every kind of dinner: indoor, outdoor, casual, formal, in a dining room, lounging about a room. He'd shown her his library and ever since they'd spent at least an hour in there every day, Sarah finding a book she'd read or telling him about a new one she'd read that night. Jareth was grateful for some companionship, and it was this growing sense of contentment with her that was pushing him away from his thoughts that all this was simply done in lust.

Tonight they would have a different kind of dinner. Tonight he was going to put out all the stops. He had a dress put out for her in her room, something he knew she'd like, and he'd made preparations on one of the balconies in the higher towers for dinner. The night was cool and bright and the stars and moon shone bright down at him from above.

He gave himself one more look in the mirror after he realized that he had not been paying attention and took out a crystal, waving around in his fingers, watching its rounded sides sway and toss the light of the stars. Strands of a song came to him then, a haunting tune, one that had haunted his dreams.

_Though we're strangers till now_

_We're choosing the path _

_Between the stars_

_I'll leave my love_

_Between the stars_. 


	3. Hope Springs Eternal

Sarah twirled around before the mirror, admiring the feeling the shimmering fabric of the dress as it slid across her skin. The silver material didn't reach past her knees, but the night was warm, so she wasn't too worried. She was, however, worried about this meal with Jareth. Her feelings had not abated this past week, not even when she was mad at him for locking her up, and that was what had surprised her the most. 

During the past nights, once she had fallen asleep, and dreams plagued her again. These dreams were not of the same nature as the ones before. These involved the masquerade with Jareth, and the two of them had spun around the room, just the two of them, wrapped in each other's gaze. The song that Jareth had sung came back to her mind then, and she hummed it softly while she waited for the goblin to come and lead her to the balcony.

As if on cue, a knock sounded at the door. She opened it to find an unfamiliar goblin waiting to lead her away. Following it carefully since it was kind of hard not to step on it, she marveled at the size of the stone castle as she walked on. After a week and a personal tour by Jareth, she was still awed by the magnitude of the building. She was staring at a particularly intricate tapestry hanging on the wall of Jareth waltzing with girl whose back was facing her, but the mass of black hair and the dress were unmistakable. Sarah felt a greater magic working at her as the song came back to her mind, and then she tripped over the goblin in front of her.

He laughed madly and scurried away, leaving Sarah to fall freely to the floor. And then two strong hands were grabbing her arms, and she was in a warm, tight grip, almost an embrace, as Jareth led her onto the balcony, the stars shining down on the two of them.

"Are you alright, Sarah?" His voice came smoothly to her out of the darkness, as gentle as the snowy wings of an owl. She found herself leaning into him though she had already caught her balance. Her eyes drifted up to his face to see those two eyes staring down at her.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine," she stuttered and pulled herself out of his grasp. Quickly she stalked away and started to sit down at the table. Jareth was right there before she even noticed that he had moved and he pulled her chair out for her. She sat down a little uncomfortably and waited for him to sit before she began to place her napkin in her lap.

"Pretty sky tonight," Sarah muttered over her food, anything to break the awkward silence that had descended. It was hard to think though when that face, almost like a statue in its perfection, was staring at her.

"Quite," Jareth replied, his voice barely above a whisper. They ate on in silence for a few more minutes. "Sarah, I…I wanted to…" The Goblin King actually looked flustered as he paused to take a sip of his wine, his eyes falling from her face as he drank, then sliding back to it. "I've enjoyed spending these few days with you."

Sarah was quite—well, she was quite something, and at the moment she was such a jumble of feelings, most of them she didn't want to confront, so she couldn't tell that she was very flattered and touched by what he said. She found the color had come up in her cheeks, and a smile came to her lips. "I've had fun too," she said, a little sheepishly. It was something she wasn't really all that eager to admit, especially to the arrogant man before her. But she couldn't deny that as he made her spend more time in the palace, she wanted to leave it less and less.

Jareth remained silent, though a smile graced his features. The air was perfume-scented, and for the first time Sarah noticed flower boxes along the balcony. The table was splendid, covered in a silvery, filmy cloth and shimmering silver place settings. Lamps were strewn about, but their cases were made out of blue glass, and the effect was lovely.

"Jareth?" Her timid voice reached out to him across the table, and she found that she was delighted when his face looked up at her from his plate, his eyes staring almost affectionately at her. A feeling of peace swirled around her then, but was gone with the breeze before he replied.

"Yes, Sarah?"

"What are you going to do with me?"

The Goblin King stared ahead at the woman he now knew that he loved more than he had ever loved anything in his long life. He felt foolish for not being able to figure it out before, but he knew that from the moment he began watching her sleeping face from outside her window, his heart had belonged to her. She had to stay at the palace with him; he'd never be able to watch her go back to her old world and life eternity without her. His heart ached with the desire to have her in his arms and hold her. His chair belonged at her side, his hand entwined in hers. Now when she asked her question, and he finally knew what the answer was, he decided he might as well break the news to her.

"Sarah." He stood up and crossed the table, kneeling down before her. His heart caught in his chest again; he wished he could tell her that he needed her to be his bride, but it wasn't the time for that yet. Her dark blue eyes stared down into his expectantly, and he saw a new feeling emerging stronger in her eyes than he had ever seen it stand before. "I want to keep you here in the Labyrinth with me."

Sarah's eyes widened and she looked away from his face. How could he do this to her? Tear her away from her home and her family and her life and force her to stay here! With him! Her anger crashed on for a few more minutes, but before it came up with anything coherent to shout at him, she felt his hand on her arm.

"Don't you understand, Sarah? That world made you grow up, made it necessary for you to risk life and limb here in the Labyrinth. That world took away what is so essential to you: your vitality, your spirit. It sucked it out of you just as it was sucking away your youth. Here, with me, your youth will stay as vibrant as your dreams."

Her heart was already won over, and it echoed Jareth's words through her wholld body until the anger was soothed. The anger that had risen then felt very contrived; a last ditch effort to refuse her feelings refuse him. Her mind listened to Jareth then, and she remembered that before this moment, she was almost glad to be out of that life. Things would be so much easier here. No college to worry about, no worries about how to support herself, no struggles. Just being with her friends all day, relaxed and able to be herself, just them and…Jareth. And he was right; she had felt pieces of her dying away ever since she came back from the labyrinth.

She turned her face toward him and gave him a soft smile, just enough to turn up the corners of her mouth, and nodded gently. "Okay, Jareth."

It was all he could do not to take her in his arms then and kiss her with all the passion and love that was boiling deep inside him. Instead, he stood up and pulled a crystal from his vest. He held it up before her eyes to see and then gently blew it away. A familiar tune blew up on the wind, and he held his hand out for her to take. She accepted, and he wished he had thought to take his gloves off first so he could feel her silky skin against his.

His arm slid around her waist as they fell into step with the music, their eyes locked onto each other. He cradled her hand in his, treasured the feel of his arm around her, her arm on his shoulders. The words to the songs rolled off his lips before he knew he was singing them, and soon they were tracing across the balcony, the stars shining down on them as vibrantly as they had ever shone in the Underground.

_Makes no sense,_ he thought to himself as he sang the very words. _Two enemies, joined at the soul._ He did feel as if they were joined by their very souls; he could feel her reverberate through his core every time he looked at her. How his lips burned to feel hers, how other parts of him burned to feel her.

He could see a similar heat in her eyes, so he brought his head closer to hers, and closer, and closer. He had come halfway; it was up to her to come up the rest. He wanted her, not the result of some magical feeling of romance that had possessed her spirit. Her face came closer to his, and his heart stopped in his chest. His blood ran hot and cold all at the same time, blood pounding in his ears. Then, her soft lips alighted on his and her breath came sweet and gentle on his face. He held her tightly in his arms, and her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace.

Never before had Sarah been kissed like this. His lips were hungry, the kiss reaching to the very depths of her soul until she was trembling there in his arms. She could feel his whole heart pour into her, and as he gently pulled away, she could see a hunger etched across his face.

"Ssh, don't be afraid," he murmured softly to her, his lips falling onto her forehead, her cheeks, her neck, his arms crushing her to his body.

She trembled still, at the power of this man, the power of the feelings that coursed through her body. Every inch of her screamed for something, and when his body shifted against her, she could feel that something press hotly into her thigh. A whimper escaped her lips, and Jareth covered them with a kiss, different from the first. This one was restrained, gentle. After it ended, he was gone from her and walking away to the door.

"Forgive me, Sarah, I forgot myself." He brought his gaze up to meet hers, and she felt the pull to him that made her ache with grief that she was no longer in arms. She wanted to kiss him again, to be held by him again, and it seemed that Jareth could read it in her eyes, for he chuckled then. "I may be powerful, but I'm still a man, Sarah. If we stayed together much longer, I'm afraid that my restraint—now that it is in place—would crumble to your charms. You have a terribly strong effect on me…as you can see."

Indeed, Sarah could see. While he was talking to her, her eyes had drifted down and caught sight of the bulge—big enough in his tights under normal conditions—that had grown. A furious blush came over her cheeks and she quickly looked away, her hands fidgeting. She didn't want to look at the knowing smile on his face then, didn't want to see the mocking smile that would be lighting up his face then.

A door clicked, and she looked up to see that he had gone.

* * *

Sarah avoided breakfast with him that morning, though she did send word through one of the more trustworthy goblins and waited a bit in case he would go into one of his rages. When he hadn't, she very happily left the castle, toting a few books with her to her favorite spot by the lake. As she put them aside, having finished them all, she realized with an unfortunate growling in her stomach that she had forgotten to eat lunch.

_Oh well,_ she decided as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head, a little sleepy after reading in the warm, clear sunshine all day. _Maybe Jareth will have something nice for dinner,_ she thought cheerily before she remembered that she wasn't too anxious to see Jareth again. Her cheeks burned with blush at the thought of the previous night, and fear mounted up within her. Fear of her feelings and his, and fear of what those feelings would lead to.

"There you are, Sarah. I've been looking for you."

That voice crept along her skin and left goosebumps in its wake. She hugged her arms around herself as she slowly turned around, the Goblin King leaning easily against the trunk of the tree she had been sitting beneath. He wore what she assumed to be his favorite outfit, and she blushed even deeper when she thought of those tights.

He sunk down the trunk of the tree and went over the titles of her books. "Some of my favorites. How did you like them?" The casual tone of his voice helped some of Sarah's nerves. She took a step closer and answered his question. As the afternoon went on, she was pleased to find that he made no mention of the previous night, and he indeed was very respectful and playful.

They walked back to the castle together as the sun was disappearing below the edge of the world. Their chattering was just dying away to a companionable silence when Jareth shifted the books to one arm, and his hand gently caught hers. She nearly jumped out of her skin when he touched her. He had kept his hands to himself all afternoon, and she was hoping that he'd stay that way, but her hopes died away now and she looked nervously over to him.

He wasn't looking at her, merely walking along as if it was the most natural thing in the world. His grip was light and easy, and Sarah saw that he wanted her to break it whenever she felt uneasy with him. She did break it, and flipped her hair away from her face. She pretended not to notice the sad look that came into his eyes.

Sarah had almost forgotten about her friends coming over for dinner that night, and Sarah was glad to get away from the Goblin King's sole attentions for that night. She needed time to clear her mind and sort through her feelings. The night with her friends was certainly a welcome break. Jareth dined with them, but Ludo and Ambrosius quickly became at ease with him, and Sir Didymus followed. Hoggle was the only one who remained reserved, but after dinner when they retired to the throne room and they put on one of their plays, he seemed to relax around the King.

Once her friends had left, Sarah realized that the Goblin King was standing behind her. She could feel the heat of his body on her back even though he wasn't touching her.

"Well, Sarah," Jareth said wistfully, "good night."

And so the next week came. Jareth's magic erased the memories of Sarah on Earth, so her parents wouldn't miss her. Toby, however, was allowed to keep Sarah as a sort of imaginary friend, and Jareth promised Sarah that he could come to the Underground when he gets old enough to keep the secret.

Sarah's feelings for Jareth quietly grew during that week. Their dinners together resumed being casual affairs, and Jareth would only gently caress her cheek or brush her arm or take her hand every now and then. Her dreams continued to be focused on the King, and it brought back the vivid images of her original dreams. She found herself thinking more and more about them during the week, until one night when a knock came tapping on her door.

Caught as she was climbing out of the tub next to her room, she pulled on her silver robe and hurried to the door, expecting to see a goblin waiting with word from Jareth about dinner. So when her hand turned the doorknob and pulled it open, her eyes were down on the level of where a goblin's head might be. She was greeted with quite a different sight, but the usual full, raging blush didn't rush to her cheeks.

"My, Sarah, just what are you thinking about?" he laughed, a taunting smirk on his face as he leaned within her doorway. Her blue eyes flitted up to his and she found herself laughing.

"I was expecting a goblin," she teased, "and it seems I was right."

Jareth was thoroughly shocked by that. Did she actually just joke about something that intimate?

_Hope springs eternal,_ he thought wryly, watching the way the hair fell over her shoulder. Her skin glistened in the light of the hall and he knew that she had just gotten out of the bath. The smooth material stuck to her wet skin, exposing the curve of her body though she didn't realize it yet.

_Or maybe she does_.

The burning need for her had continued on, strong as ever, this week. Every night when he climbed into his bed and looked over at her empty pillow, his heart sank. She was so close, and at the same time she was nowhere near him. He had tried to be patient and wait for her to come to him. Now he was growing impatient, especially when he could look into those stormy eyes and see how deep her love for him went. Those nights when he couldn't stand to be alone with her, he had crept into her room and watched her sleep, and it seemed that his presence brought on certain dreams. He knew she was ready. Now it was time to make her see.

"And it seems the young girl I was expecting has been replaced by a woman with very mature wiles." His eyes dripped down her body as he said it, and she stepped behind the door a little, the fear that he had gotten so tired of seeing only slightly cropping up in her eyes.

_Promising indeed,_ he thought, knowing that not all the fear could be gone from her until he finally did make her a woman.

"What did you want to see me for?" Sarah asked next, the jokes dropped though he didn't see the removal of her humor.

"Where would you like to have dinner tonight? We could have it out by the lake, or that balcony, the library, or…" He smirked and ran a hand through his blonde mane. "Or my bedchamber."

She seemed to catch the humor in his voice, for an uneasy smile came to her features and she shook her head. "You wish," she snorted. "The balcony sounds nice. We haven't been there in a while."

Jareth nodded slowly, pleased with her answer. "Don't dress up, Sarah. Tonight I'd rather see you as you truly are." He could see the puzzled look come into her eyes, but he only turned and walked away. Anxiety ran over his whole form, scared for what may happen tonight, but mostly afraid of what mayn't happen that night.


	4. Stay With Me Always

They sat across from each other at dinner, laughing together over their meal. The romantic extras he'd had before were gone, and it was just Sarah and himself, their meal, and the stars high up in the sky. He preferred it that way. There were candles everywhere of course; that he couldn't resist. She was so beautiful when the candlelight flickered over her features. 

Now, as their meal drew to a close, he was ready to take a chance. His hand reached over and covered hers on the table, and while she looked at it with trepidation, she didn't pull away. Delight rang through him, and he gently squeezed her hand.

"Sarah, are you happy here with me?"

Her response was a few minutes in coming, but a smile came over her as she looked up at him. "Yes, very much."

Jareth stood up and crossed the short distance that the table put between then and pulled her up to him. His arms circled around her waist and he hesitated, watching her for protests. When none came, he held her tightly to him, one gloveless hand coming up to trace along her cheek. Her arms slowly found their way around his neck, and as he looked down into the face of the woman he loved, he realized that it was slowly coming closer to his. They met halfway in a trembling kiss, and Sarah began to quiver again in his arms. He started to pull away from her, release her again, not wanting to scare her too much, but she held him tight.

"No, Jareth. I don't want you to leave me tonight." Her words were commanding yet also full of tension.

"Do you know what you ask for, my dear?" he murmured to her, taking her face into his hand once more.

Sarah realized she could fight it no longer. When he first wrapped his arms around her, her body began to scream for his lips, and when they had finally parted from each other, the screaming began again. Yes, she knew what she was asking, and though the fear coursed through her veins with her very lifeblood, she knew she couldn't spend another night without him.

"I know," she said simply, forcing her eyes up to him even while her cheeks bloomed in red.

The smile that came to him then was tender and he bent in for a gentle kiss on her forehead. When he pulled away, she saw that they were in his room, the candles too, and a fire was roaring merrily in the fireplace. She shook, and she hated herself for doing it, but she couldn't help it. This man who even through her hatred had managed to create in her a terrible lust for him was about to—well, she couldn't say it without feeling like she was going to cry. Cry for sadness, fear, or joy, she didn't know.

"Ssh, Sarah, it's alright," he said gently into her hair, pulling her into a hug. "I know you're afraid, but I promise that I'll take care of you, my Sarah." He stepped back from her then, leaving only his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing them.

"I—I never," she faltered and looked away.

"I know," he said softly, a smile in his voice.

"Will it…hurt?" She sounded so small in the big room, so vulnerable and insecure.

"Only for a minute," he said, and she could hear the truth in his voice.

Nodding now, she looked back up at him, at his features that could be so gentle sometimes and so crushingly handsome the next. His face was gentle then, as were his hands as he slowly began to work the buttons on his shirt. His eyes never left her face, not for an instant, as he shed his shirt.

She figured she should start on hers, too, but she didn't want to look at him while she did it, so she turned around and began to take off her shirt, then her skirt, and when she turned around, she felt the warm air of the room sweep over her bare skin. Her eyes took in the sight of him before her, tall and dripping with the power to make her melt. She couldn't help but utter a small gasp at him, having never been really interested in such things before. She had seen it in her dreams, but this was quite different in real life.

They stood a few minutes there, just drinking in each other. Finally Jareth moved first, reaching out a hand to her shoulder, and it trailed down to her breast, kneading the soft flesh in his hand. She moaned and leaned into him, and she mustered up her courage. Her hand reached out ever-so-hesitantly, her fingers brushing gently over his shaft.

"Go on, Sarah, it's okay," he said gently, though a little raspy. She slid her fingers around it, taking it in her hand. His eyes were shut now, his hand still cupping her breast. Running her thumb against it, she gently moved her hand, meaning only to feel its full length. It was smooth and hard at the same time; she could feel the hard inner part, but the outer layer seemed to slide with her hand.

Jareth growled as her hand moved, and he took her into his arms, a full-out passionate kiss crushing against her lips. Sarah was powerless against it, and she found herself kissing back as he carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently, trailing a hand down her body before he was on top of her, his body pressed to hers, his lips finding her skin and treasuring it with tiny kisses. His mouth traveled farther down, kissing a hungry trail as he went, his hands exploring her stomach and legs.

Sarah never felt so alive in her life. Every inch of her was teeming with a need, and when his mouth reached her nipple, she moaned loudly, pleasure coursing through her. He smirked up at her, nipping gently at her.

"We haven't even started yet," he winked at her, hovering over her chest. Their breath was coming ragged now, and Jareth ran his hands along her until he was where the heat was most intense. His eyes locked onto her as he lowered himself to her, and she could hardly believe the feelings that his lips and tongue gave her. Things began to get a little blurry, and she was moaning loudly now.

Another growl escaped his lips and then he was on top of her again, his mouth against hers, kissing her powerfully. He nipped his way along to her ear, his tongue gently tracing along the soft skin there.

"Are you ready, Sarah?" he whispered to her, a primal edge to his voice as his breath came at her neck in ragged gasps. She barely whispered her reply to him and then she felt him moving, and something pressing at her. He kissed her deeply as he thrust himself into her, and her cry was stifled by his mouth. "I'm sorry, so sorry," he muttered, kissing her cheeks and neck, holding her face in his hands.

She never could remember how long they stayed like that, him nestled inside her, his lips gently caressing her skin, but she eventually the pain ebbed, and she moaned low in her throat. Jareth seemed to have been waiting for that, for immediately he began to push himself in and out of her, her name rolling off his lips more times than she could count.

If she had thought she couldn't be more alive than before, she was wrong. Her vision was blurred yet colors were sharper, and she found herself moving with him, her moans matching his growls. Nails dug into his back as she felt herself nearing that great big something again, and then she was in it, shuddering beneath him as his name echoed through the walls of his room. Not a second later, Jareth was calling out her name.

Gently they kissed again, and Sarah realized that she was trembling again. He reluctantly slid out of her and took his place beside her, his arms still wrapped tightly around her body, damp with sweat. She brushed the hair that had gotten plastered to his face away from it and nestled her head beneath his chest. Peace had never before settled so strongly within her.

"I love you," Jareth said gently, his fingers tracing along her spine.

She didn't even hesitate. "I love you too."

* * *

It was a beautiful night in the Underground. The moon shone brightly above and was reflected perfectly in the quiet lake. Sarah was on a blanket by the bank of the sweet-smelling water, and Jareth was beside her, his chest pressed to her back, an arm about her waist. It had been yet another week, and though there had been more than a few fights, most of them had been made up, if not easily, but passionately.

Jareth was pleased at how she was so comfortable around him now, just as he was pleased at her eagerness to be with him. Never before had life been so tranquil, so full of happiness. It was easier to maintain his temper now, and Sarah was talking less and less of Earth, though he never expected her to forget it. Still, he hated the thought that she might one day leave him for her world again, and it was that thought that had been keeping him awake at night—when it wasn't Sarah keeping him awake.

He looked down at her now, pale and glowing in the moonlight, and he knew every inch of her body. He traced a finger along it now, and he heard a warm chuckle from the drowsy form beside him.

"Don't get me started again." She turned around and looked up at him, contentment etched along her face. "I'm starting to get sore."

"You start most of it," he teased, his face level with hers now, their arms draped over each other.

"Well you get me started, so there," she quipped back and he laughed, a low, merry sound, before he leaned in to steal a kiss from her perfect lips.

"Stay with me always, Sarah," he said earnestly, and Sarah started to reply when he placed a finger over her lips. "Be my queen, Sarah. You'd be a marvelous one. You'd never leave my side, and we'd live here, forever."

Again, she didn't hesitate. She slid closer to him, enveloping him in a sweet and sultry kiss. _She's been learning,_ he thought happily to himself. "Of course, Jareth."

Smiling, Jareth closed the gap between them again, two lovers joining in the quiet rays of a silver moon.

A/N: To quote Mystery Science Theater 3000, "There it's done, what do you think?" It's a first draft, so all reviews are welcome, just no outright flames.

--Riana


End file.
